fabric roof leaks on 1996 Lincoln Town Car

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corvettesam

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I recently used a can of RaggTop protectant (3 coats) on my fabric roof.

I followed all directions and allowed car
to dry in garage for 2 days, then parked outside.

One week later, hard rain soaked the roof and saturated my leather seats.

Any suggestions on how I can waterproof this roof?
 
Mike@DedicatedPerfection said:
Wait a minute, AFAIK there is a normal soild metal roof over the car with the fabric covering the roof.
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My fabric top leaks too if it rains hard enough... So it can happen. Good thing is that it hardly ever rains out here. Lol.
It's been a while since it's happened so I can't even remember pinpointing the cause.. I recall hearing the Cadillac people describing what it could be and it involved some kind of drain plugs in the roof that may be plugged up, causing the water to pool and eventually leak down from the roof... My leak happens at the very front of the roof, right above the rear view mirror. Leave it to Cadillac to have such an odd [and probably costly] problem.
 
Another thing: It's not recommended to use those sort of waterproofing sprays on that sort of top. Don't ask me to explain the details because it's early and I just woke up.. But trust me, it's for real convertable tops only, not simulated tops like the 1 on your Towncar and my Seville. I had adverse reactions after using 303 to try to waterproof my roof, including increased leaking.
 
Eldorado2k said:
Another thing: It's not recommended to use those sort of waterproofing sprays on that sort of top. Don't ask me to explain the details because it's early and I just woke up.. But trust me, it's for real convertable tops only, not simulated tops like the 1 on your Towncar and my Seville. I had adverse reactions after using 303 to try to waterproof my roof, including increased leaking.
Click to expand...

So, could that mean the water-proofing is causing water to channel directly to the point of the interior leak?
 
Jowillie said:
So, could that mean the water-proofing is causing water to channel directly to the point of the interior leak?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure if that's the specific cause. What I do remember is 1 dude from the Cadillac forums who would constantly show up in these related threads always advising against waterproofing the simulated tops. I think his main thing had to do with the material needing to stay breathable, and once you try to waterproof it it changes how it was made to be.

But I don't think that would be the cause of the leaking.. I it's more likely to be due to the drain issue that I once saw those dudes go into detail about..
 
I went to take a quik look but there's endless threads... But it didn't take long to find that dude who would always scold everyone about trying to waterproof their roofs. Lol.

View attachment 53030

From the little I just read, it seems like the drain plugs are for cars with sunroofs... But this could somehow be related to the issue we're experiencing. Other people chime in and agree. They go on to say it's a very costly repair. [no surprise. Lol]

View attachment 53031
 
no, but we bought the car this spring and it never rained this hard before. I have read the reply's and
think they are right about the drain pipes being plugged on the sunroof.
 
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